


switch

by asmaanixx



Category: Ishq Mein Marjawan 2
Genre: Confessions, Confrontations, Episode 144, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29561493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asmaanixx/pseuds/asmaanixx
Summary: Vihaan isn't entirely forthcoming with the truth about him and Vansh switching places.
Relationships: Riddhima/Vihaan
Kudos: 4





	switch

“Jab bhi usse khatra mehsoos hota tha, toh BAM! Woh mujhe Vansh Raisinghania bana ke bhejta tha. Toh bas Vansh ki jaan bachane ka zima tha mera.”

Vihaan’s words bounced around in Riddhima’s mind. She should be focusing on finding that bullet wound on his back instead. It would be definitive proof and answer all her questions once and for all. But she couldn’t wait that long. She  _ had _ to know who she fell in love with right away.

Vihaan leaned down presumably to kiss her and she took an immediate step back.

She didn’t care that her fear was visible in her eyes right now. The turmoil she was going through was far too great for her to be able to put on a brave front.

“Kya tumne kabhi…” She took a deep breath, wondering how the hell she should phrase her question. Just what is the right way to ask someone if the person she spent her nights with was her husband or just an imposter. Closing her eyes, she took another deep breath, and tried again. “Teen mahine pehle mujhe goli lagi thi. Yehi, ghar par. Ho sakta hai woh Vansh ke li thi. Obviously khatra tha.” Her eyes hardening, she asked in a no nonsense tone, “Uss din ke baad mere saath Vansh tha ya tum?”

Vihaan’s eyes turned inscrutable. Riddhima clenched her jaw.

“Jis admi se meine pyaar kiya woh tum the ya Vansh?” Hot tears burned her eyes.

Pocketing his hands, he asked her, “Tumhe kya lagta hai? Vansh aisa kar sakta hai?”

Riddhima chuckled. Shaking her head, she told him, “Mein Vansh ko nahi janti.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Woh kya karta tha, kya sochta tha, kya mehsoos karta tha, mujhe kuch nahi pata. All I know is how  _ I _ felt. Meine uske liye kya kiya, uske baare mein socha, kaunse sapne dekhe...” She closed her eyes and her tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Tumhe aisa kyun lag ra hai ki woh Vansh nahi tha?” He asked.

Riddhima looked away. How can she explain Vansh’s irrational behavior? How after her being shot he had grown to be a lot more affectionate and caring towards her. But as soon as he returned from his business trip it was as if nothing had happened between them at all. There were no loving and kind words for her. Just furious accusations, taunt filled words, and a singular insane obsession with Ragini. Riddhima glanced at the man standing before her. Ever since she met him, he has not once asked about Ragini or tried to inquire about Uma’s death. Surely he can’t be Vansh.

“Riddhima.” Vihaan called out, with a raise of his brows. “I’m waiting.”

“Vihaan mujhe abhi kissi bhi cheez par bharosa nahi hai. Mujhe jaana hai ki mere saath kaun tha.”

He stepped towards her, and gently touched the side of her face. “Tumhe kya lagta hai?” She rolled her eyes. “Tumhare saath kaun hota tha?”

Her mind screamed Vansh, but her heart felt the way he was touching her now and wanted to say Vihaan. She looked away, exhaustion seeping in.

“Tum dono ke liye yeh adla badli, sab ek mazak hoga.” She looked at him with fresh tears in her eyes. “But mere liye nahi hai. Mein koi aisi waisi aurat nahi hoon jo kissi ke saath bhi apni raatein guzaar loon.” Placing a hand on her chest, she added, “Mujhe jaana hai ki mein kiske saath thi. Who did I share my bed with Vihaan?”

There was a pained look in his eyes but his words did nothing to relieve Riddhima’s. “You were with the one you love Riddhima. Itna kaafi hai.”

Closing her eyes, she shook her head in exhaustion. “Not for me. Mujhe naam chahiye.”

The longer Vihaan kept quiet, the greater the unsettling feeling in Riddhima became. That period between her getting shot and him leaving for his business trip, it wasn’t Vansh. It never was. It had been Vihaan all along. Her mind was instantly assaulted by all the beautiful memories she had associated with Vansh. Having her saree draped by him, her hiccups being removed, her constantly being saved, her wounds being soothed, or the entire time during Ishani’s wedding. It was never Vansh?

No, it had to be. Her hair. He was obsessed with her hair being open. The first time they danced after marriage, him imagining her in that orange dress and wanting her to see in it. That wasn’t Vihaan. It was Vansh. Karwa Chauth, that also had to be him. He even kept a fast for her. Why would he do that if he never loved her? Cared for her? Wanted her?

Riddhima’s head started to feel light. She looked around and everything seemed to spin out of control. She took a step back, she stumbled over her feet and almost fell over but was caught by Vihaan in time.

“Riddhima, are you okay?” He asked, looking down at her.

There, in his eyes, she saw the same concern she used to see in Vansh’s. Moments before she fell unconscious from her bullet wound, and her mind went blank, she had seen Vansh’s worried face. Those frantic eyes scanning her face, his mind being stumped and taken completely by surprise over what had just happened. Those inflections in his voice as he called out her name and constantly reassured her that she would be alright. She remembered it all because it was one of the few things that had kept her going during her trip to the hospital.

She wasn’t dying right now, but she might as well have, given the way Vihaan was looking at her. The same tapping on her cheek, the same insistence that she open her eyes - everything about him screamed Vansh. So why the hell would he put on this elaborate act of being Vihaan? Okay, he could have done it to put a permanent end to Kabir’s snooping, but her? Why keep up the Vihaan act with her?

That’s when it hit her: trust. This whole elaborate game he was playing with her was all about trust. It always has been since they both met each other. She wanted to laugh hysterically. Neither of them trusted each other then, and they sure as hell don’t now. She supposed some things will never change.

Vihaan picked her up and she let him. He carried her back to the little sleeping area he had created and placed her on it. She should protest his every little touch, but she couldn’t muster a single word. She was just so damn tired. Her eyes drooped heavily, but with her every blink, she tried to decipher the man laying beside her. Was he Vansh or Vihaan? Were they both two different people or was he just one playing his own sicked, twisted game? Does it even matter? He was the man she fell in love with right? Does the name really matter as much as the person himself?

Before exhaustion completely overtook her, she asked a single question, “Do you love me?”

She fell asleep before she could properly hear the answer. From what she did manage to catch, it sounded an awful like, “Always.”


End file.
